Röchling Automotive receives BMW Supplier Innovation Award 2016

Munich, 30 Sep 2016 - The BMW Group has bestowed its fourth BMW Supplier Innovation Award. A total of six suppliers were honoured for their outstanding achievements in innovation and development.

Röchling Automotive, a leading global provider of acoustic, aerodynamic and fluid management solutions, has been presented for its Active Grille Shutter in the BMW 7 Series in the category 'EfficientDynamics': The Active Grille Shutter in the BMW 7 Series from Röchling Automotive makes air grilles visible for the first time, allowing the customer to witness aerodynamics directly. Integrating the slats directly into the BMW kidney grille creates a striking optical effect. Electric controls actively regulate the air stream. The improvement over previous systems is impressive: Air resistance is optimised, CO2 emissions reduced and the engine warms up faster from a cold start.

Innovation lays the foundation for the BMW Group’s economic success and future competitiveness. Suppliers are key partners in this process and play a decisive role in the implementation of new developments. Innovative strength and collaborative partnerships with suppliers are highly valued by the BMW Group and recognised with this award.

Klaus Draeger, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network, underlined the future importance of new technologies at the award ceremony in the BMW Welt. Speaking to the audience of 300 senior representatives of the international supplier industry he said: “Within two to three decades, mobility will be defined by sustainability, connectivity and automated driving. Innovations will be more important than ever going forward – especially since premium vehicles with strong emotional appeal depend on them. The only way to assure and strengthen our innovation capability is through close links with our suppliers and development partners.”

BMW Group suppliers ceased to be simply component suppliers years ago and have become system developers and innovation partners. Over the years, their share of value creation at the company has risen steadily and currently stands at over 70 per cent. Between 2010 and 2015, the company increased purchasing volumes by 38 per cent to 34.7 billion euros.

The Supplier Innovation Award is a further highlight of the company’s centenary year. With a number of its partners, the BMW Group can look back on decades of collaboration – dating, in some cases, from the very beginning. Klaus Draeger said: “The success of the BMW Group over the past 100 years is based to a large extent on our ability to innovate – something we can only achieve with strong partners. 100 years of BMW also means 100 years of partnership with our suppliers.”

The BMW Group presented awards in a total of six categories, in fields where the company intends to shape the future of individual mobility as a premium manufacturer: EfficientDynamics, digitalisation, sustainability, quality, emotional experience and productivity. For the first time, the award was presented in the new categories emotional experience and digitalisation.

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